Four candidates vie for three spots in Republican primary for commissioner in West Norriton

WEST NORRITON ­­— Four candidates are vying for the three Republican spots on the ballot in the May 21 primary election for the West Norriton Board of Commissioners.

Board President George Stojanovich originally registered for the primary but withdrew his name before the filing deadline.

Incumbent Commissioner Paul C. Piantone, 60, has lived in West Norriton for his entire life. He is a second-generation owner of Tone Realty in Norristown and has been a Realtor for 34 years.

Piantone has served on the Board of Commissioners for five years. He served as vice president of the board from 2010 to 2013.

“We will work to make our local government more responsive to the taxpayers,” Piantone said.

When the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) mandated the township to do sump pump inspections at residential homes, Piantone suggested forming a committee with two residents to formulate the inspection plan, and the committee designed a form that residents could fill out to avoid an in-home inspection, he said.

“I would like to continue improving the Main Street area of the township. We have a new Wawa coming. The farmers market is opening next week,” Piantone said. “We need to move forward to get new commercial tenants for Main Street ... I want to preserve our open space in the township. I would like to responsibly develop Westover. That is in court now.”

Incumbent Commissioner Ralph Panzullo, 60, has lived in West Norriton since 1977 and has served on the board for the past five years. He is a salesman for Tube Methods of Bridgeport.

“I’m the only incumbent commissioner who was against the single trash hauler in West Norriton,” Panzullo said. “I was the lead man in shooting it down.”

Panzullo also opposed the proposal to convert the former Markley Farms Swim Club into a YMCA facility.

“We wanted to keep the YMCA out of the residential neighborhood,” Panzullo said. “We thought the streets were not large enough for the traffic. We offered some other spots in the township and they declined ...

“I’m going door to door and putting out signs,” said Panzullo about his campaigning. “I’m letting people know that I need their support.”

Jason Donoghue, 33, has lived in West Norrition his entire life. He has been a lawyer at Daniel McCartney Jr., since 2008 and he serves as a pro bono lawyer for the Montgomery County Veterans Administration. He is also a volunteer wrestling coach at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School.

Donoghue is a member of the Charity Lodge 190, Tall Cedars Lodge, Pi Lambda Phi, Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity, the Montgomery County Bar Association and the Pennsylvania Bar Association, and he is the past president of the Montgomery American Inn of Court. He was a junior member of the Jefferson Fire Co. until 1996.

“I want to keep and support people’s right to choose their own trash hauler. I want to make myself available to residents to find out what they want,” Donoghue said. “We need to make West Norriton a place where people want to be and make it more appealing like Phoenixville. I’m really excited to see the Farmer’s Market come back to Main Street.”

Donoghue said he wants to make the Main Street area more appealing to businesses.

“The community has been looking for businesses to come back here,” he said. “You need to listen to each opportunity as it comes.”

Stephen Tolbert Jr., 35, has lived in West Norriton since January 2006. He is an economics professor at Montgomery County Community College.

Tolbert is an associate member of the West Norriton Township Police Association and a military veteran who has served in the armed forces since 2001.

“I’m a lifelong Montgomery County resident. I grew up in Lower Merion,” Tolbert said. “West Norriton is developing in wonderful ways. It has a community feel that is very hard to get in newer communities. It has managed to keep taxes relatively low and services high.”

Tolbert called himself “a market guy” who is in favor of allowing residents to have consumer choice.

“I’m in favor of keeping taxes low. There is currently an initiative to build a new sewer plant. I am opposed to that idea because you would be breaking a lease (with Norristown),” Tolbert said. “We are a very small, manageable place to live.”

Tolbert said that breaking the agreement with Norristown to treat West Norriton’s sewage would raise sewer rents in the future.

Residents of the Betzwood neighborhood where he lives do not currently have a representative on the board, he said.

“I have knocked on every door in the neighborhood. Of the 586 voters, every household except one feels the board is not acting with residents’ opinions.”

Tolbert and Donoghue are campaigning together, Tolbert said.

The West Norriton Republican Committee has endorsed Tolbert, Donoghue and Piantone for the Republican primary election.

The three Democratic commissioner candidates are running unopposed in the Democratic primary and will face three of the Republican candidates in the November general election.

Carl Rieffanaugh, 59, has lived in West Norriton for 24 years. He is a retired mathematics teacher who taught at the Norristown Area High School for 11 years, at Eisenhower and East Norriton Middle schools for 15 years and at Lincoln Academy for five years. He graduated from Eisenhower High School in 1972.

Rieffanaugh served as president of the Education Association of Norristown Area for three years. He was an active member of the instruction and professional development committee of the Pennsylvania State Education Association.

“I feel I have the time for being a commissioner,” he said. “It would be a way to give back to the community after all these years.”

Rieffanaugh said he did not have a position on the all-sports proposal for the Westover Country Club.

“I like the idea of having a golf course there because it is open land,” he said, “but at the same time I like the idea of having something for the kids.”

Crystal Miller, 33, has lived in West Norriton for the past year. She resided in Bridgeport for the previous seven. She is a senior actuarial consultant at Aetna Inc. and an attorney in West Norriton, and she serves on the fund-raising committee for the Choristers of Upper Dublin.

“The really hot issue in West Norriton is the sewer, and if the township should build a new sewer plant. We are trying to figure out what is best for West Norriton and whether we should separate from Norristown,” Miller said. “The big issue is the cost of the project. It is too soon to say. There is not much information about the issue yet.”

Miller said she was happy to see businesses opening on Main Street.

“I love the community and I want to get involved,” she said. “I want to help it in any way I can.”

Democratic candidate Mary Murausky did not respond to requests for comment.

Rieffanaugh, Miller and Murausky have been endorsed by the West Norriton Democratic Committee.